7th July
by Deborahpflover
Summary: It's that time of the year again. The 7th of July. There are a few people who hate this day with passion, and Gajeel is one of those people. But Fairy Tail wouldn't be Fairy Tail if they don't cry and smile together. Now only to get him to understand and accept that... Maybe a few others who know the pain of this day can help him realize what nakama really means? (hints of GaLe)


**Hi everyone! I'm back with my second story for Fairy Tail! Yeah, I know I'm kinda obsessed at the moment but I can't help it, it's _so good_. And thanks a lot for all your kind responses at my first story! ^^**

**Anyway, I really love everything that has to do with the dragons or Dragon Slayers and Natsu and Gajeel my babies. So I started thinking of how they would deal with the day their dragons disappeared. Especially now that they finally know each other. And it just got out of hand from there... this is the result. This chapter is mostly Gajeel, and the next will focus more on the other characters. (Natsu, Lucy, Wendy) Later chapters contain GaLe and NaLu. This story is gonna have three chapters, and I'm almost done. So I'll probably finish this in less than a week. Now, enjoy! And don't forget to review!**

******Disclaimer:**** Uhm... well I'm not Japanese for starters... And I'm a girl. A teenage girl. So I can't possibly be Hiro Mashima, right? As you all know, that means I don't own the wonderful anime/manga called Fairy Tail. There would be more NaLu if I owned it. :P "Fairy Tail" and all related logos, titles and characters are trademarks of whatever company I don't know the name of. I own nothing. Hiro Mashima is the brilliant creator of this awesome anime/manga.**

**WARNING: Because this chapter is sort of written from Gajeel's POV, know that there is some cursing.**

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_7th July._

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A summer day, the sun shining brightly, the birds singing happily in the trees. A perfect day for everyone living in Magnolia.

Everyone? No, certainly not. There were a few people who hated this day with passion. And Gajeel was one of those people.

Gajeel Redfox was an intimidating man on any normal day, but now, he looked downright frightening—as if he would beat anyone unfortunate enough to fall under his gaze to a bloody pulp.

Which was why no one bothered him as he stomped through the streets of Magnolia. They just went out of his way, ignoring him as best as they could while hoping nobody would tick him off. Their poor city would get demolished without doubt if that happened. So they left him alone and continued their day normally. Unknown to them however, Gajeel was already ticked off. Just not enough to go on rampage, although he couldn't promise he wouldn't do that. _Everything_ today annoyed and irritated the hell out of him.

Finally, he spotted Fairy Tail in the distance. There was no reason he decided to go to the guild today other than distraction. Something that could draw his thoughts away from the things he didn't want to remember. But when he got closer his ears picked up noise that sounded like a brawl. And as much as he wanted to hit something, he wasn't in for a 'friendly' fight now. Oh no. He would rather beat the hell out some sort of bastard on a mission. At least then he was allowed to go full-out instead of holding back his true strength.

Whatever other thoughts he had were forgotten when the doors were smashed open by two flying people who hit him square in the face. Immediately Gajeel was on his feet again, grabbing the two poor souls of the ground. His face gleamed with metal and malice. Gray and Elfman stared back with wide, scared eyes and Gajeel growled from frustration. It would be _so_ easy to just punch in their faces. Gray however seemed to notice the state of murder the Dragon Slayer was in. Unlike Elfman, his close friendship with Erza and Natsu taught him how to stay alive in this sort situations.

"Listen, before you kill us.. WE'RE SORRY! IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! WE'LL DO ANYTHING YOU WANT BUT PLEASE HAVE MERCY!"

Alright.. maybe it wasn't the best way of dealing with the situation, but they got away with it as Kurogane threw them back on the ground with enough force to crack it. He was now emitting a murderous black aura, and no one dared to even look at him funny while they watched in pity as Elfman and Gray hit the ground. Slowly, putting their hands up in a defensive 'please-don't-kill-me' manner the two backed off, happily to get away alive.

Needless to say the brawl was stopped for now.

Gajeel send the rest of the guild a glare that made them remember he used to be a Phantom Lord S-class mage. Growling low from the back of his throat he turned and stormed off to his favorite corner in the guild, the loneliest, darkest and most far away table possible, where he planned to sit and sulk for at least the whole day, if it wouldn't be longer. The place was empty, as always. Nobody was stupid enough to take the Iron Dragon Slayer's favorite spot.

That, and it really was a dark, cold and lonely corner. But that was how Gajeel liked it so it was fine by him. This crazy messed up guild always found ways to create chaos, so the table was a safe haven in the sea of idiotic behavior and ridiculousness for him.

The table was tucked away in a corner to the far left, from the point of view where you just stepped through the doors. It was a little bit isolated but perfect for observing people. The fact that it was a corner that didn't have a window, fire, light-lacrima or candle nearby made it also somewhat colder and darker. Gajeel had discovered it right away when he joined and he made it very clear that was his table by sitting there as often as possible. Of course, because nobody wanted to be near him in the beginning, he soon had it all for himself. For Gajeel it was a perfect place to enjoy a meal of iron in peace, something that had become a habit through the years in Phantom Lord.

Occasionally Juvia would join him, and since Lily became Gajeel's cat it immediately turned into his table too. Even Levy -when she had enough of Jet and Droy shadowing her and she just wanted to read a book without interruptions- would come by sometimes to sit there. But apart from them, the other guild mates never visited the table. It was just one of those things everybody knew not to do, like messing with Erza's cake.

And today, on this fucking dreadful day, Gajeel was fucking thankful for it. He was certain that he would punch someone through a wall if they came too close. Everything he usually hated on normal days was twice as bad now, and every little thing worked on his nerves. He _knew_ he was depressed, Lily didn't have to point it out that morning. He knew it himself and he also knew it was coming. This day would just never feel good. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Metalicana's disappearance hit him hard. Even now he would gladly smash the world to pieces when someone reminded him about it. From the corners of his eyes he noticed the others glancing at him in a half-worried, half-frightened way.

He sat down, propped his heavy legs up on the tabletop and folded his thick, studded arms menacingly across his chest. He wasn't in the mood to eat any iron like usual, and even Phanterlily who was at his side most of the time was missing today.

And not only that. The Iron Dragon Slayer seemed to emit the same murderous dark aura that reminded most of Fairy Tail's mages of the time that he just joined the guild, when he had no friends and everyone was afraid of him.

They used to avoid him, scared of the evil hate he seemed to have for everyone. But through time, Gajeel had changed. He actually got along with some people and everyone in Fairy Tail saw him as their nakama now.

But that didn't mean they were comfortable with approaching the Dragon Slayer when he was in a sour mood. They didn't have a death wish. Gajeel was still one of Fairy Tail's strongest mages, and the one with the most dangerous attitude and the 'don't-screw-with-me' mood. The only ones who got away with talking to him in such a state were Phanterlily, Levy, Wendy, Juvia and Master. But Master didn't pay attention to Gajeel, Wendy was nowhere to be seen, Juvia had all her attention on Gray and Levy was away on a mission with her team Shadow Gear. So that was why today, there was yet to be a person who as much as looked at the glaring man.

At that moment the big front doors got throw open. The bang was enough to make people temporally look up from what they were doing and greet the person who barged in. Said person only grunted back in response and slumped down at one of the empty tables. His pink-haired head hit the table as he let it fall down. Happy trailed after him, silent and sad. The guild was quiet for a minute, staring in shock and surprise at the member who was usually the source of all the chaos. After a few awkward minutes they all turned away and continued whatever they had been doing at the moment Natsu Dragneel walked in.

Because the moment he walked in the guild, they suddenly remembered what day it was. And they remembered all the other years this same thing had happened with Natsu. It was the 7th of July, the day Igneel disappeared. To say Natsu was depressed on this particularly day was an understatement. Therefore they left him alone, knowing fully well what would happen if anyone upset the Fire Dragon Slayer on this day.

Natsu continued to slump over the table. He –like Gajeel- was radiating a black aura that told people to stay away and leave him alone. Gajeel however looked up from his death glare at the table in front of him and leaned forward. His eyes darted back and forth between the random chaos in the guild until they landed on the mob of pink hair. A bitter smirk slowly split his face, revealing his sharp canines. Salamander had it too he concluded. Even though the idiot never stopped talking about finding his dragon, this day was enough to bring him into the sorry state he was in now.

There was no denying they were abandoned by the only family they ever knew. That their dragons had suddenly disappeared without a trace and left no clues about where to find them. No goodbyes or farewells, not even the littlest hint they were _gonna_ leave. They just left from one day on another. Years and years past, they grew up, and there was nothing that ever even pointed in the direction of finding them. It was just like that.

Gajeel hated it. He hated Metalicana for leaving him, for being such a bastard and abandoning a fucking child out of nowhere. He hated this day because it reminded him of Metalicana. And he hated everyone and everything that continued to be so freaking _happy_ on this day of all days. It disgusted them. Made him murderous. He wanted nothing more than just beat the heck out of some random guy. Unfortunately he couldn't do that, not anymore. He was in Fairy Tail now and Fairy Tail took things more serious that Phantom Lord ever did. He couldn't just beat up someone for no reason and get away with it. He was supposed to be a good guy now. But hell he would have given some of his best iron to be able to beat someone now!

The sound of soft feet on wood made him look up, although he knew Bunny Girl was entering the guild long before that. Her smell of vanilla and sunflowers was one he memorized a long time ago. Although he did notice something strange about her. She seemed off today, her steps not as vibrant and bouncing and her head hung low. She wasn't smiling either and she looked almost sad.

While people turned to greet her she just ignored them and continued walking, her gaze focused on one person: Salamander. And as if he felt her eyes on him, he looked up and a small, sad smile crept on his face. She sat down next to him, signing deeply and staring at the cracks in the wood of their table. Natsu looked at her for a few seconds before returning his head on his arms. They didn't say a thing. Happy just looked between them a few times, sighed and started to munch silently on a fish he brought with him.

The rest of the guild members however seemed confused as why Lucy of all people seemed depressed today. They had expected it from Natsu, and they figured Gajeel had the same problem, but Lucy was no Dragon slayer. She should have been fine today.

Mira was sending worried glances at her and Erza seemed to compete with herself if going over to find out what was wrong would be a good idea. But neither of them seemed eager to move, and Gajeel had an idea why that was. She was sitting next to Natsu. Natsu who hated this day and had to be left alone at all coasts. The fact that he tolerated Lucy around him was surprising but not shocking. They were best friends after all. And if there was anyone who would be able to help her it would be him. So they let them be for now.

Gajeel ripped his gaze away from the depression duo and opted instead to look at the wall again in a deadly way. He ignored the things that were going on around him and tried to get his thoughts away from Metalicana.

It was easier said than done, especially when the doors swung open again and the third Dragon Slayer Fairy Tail had as a member stepped inside. If the whole mood wasn't below zero at this point after a murderous Gajeel, depressed Natsu and a sad Lucy, it was now. Because Wendy was crying. Charle flew next to her, in obvious panic. She was trying to calm her down, but it didn't seem to work on the Maiden of the Sky who just continued crying softly.

Gajeel grit his teeth and clenched his fists so hard he was leaving marks in his own arms. Damn dragons, making the poor girl cry. Of course she wasn't able to take it as he or Salamander did. She was a girl, and a little one too. His eyes followed her, wanting her to look up and see him or Salamander. Any more of this and he would go crazy.

Surprisely, it was Lucy who got up and kneeled in front of Wendy. Wendy looked up and stared a few seconds at her before she threw her arms around Lucy. Her crying intensified. Lucy just hugged her back and took her to the table she, Natsu and Happy were sharing. Natsu had sat up a little and watched Lucy comforting Wendy.

Seeing the whole scene was the breaking point of Gajeel. He got up and stormed away, cursing under his breath. He had no idea where he was going, as long as it was away from the guild. Going there had been a bad idea, but he hadn't thought about his fellow Dragon Slayers. Why would he? For the past years, he had been on his own.


End file.
